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Russia is a country that does not seem to like Pokémon Go. They previously arrested a man and charged him with inciting religious hatred for playing Pokémon Go in a church. He faces 3 years imprisonment if found guilty.

It seems the Simpsons have also run afoul of the country for this same reason. A recent Simpsons episode say the show spoof Pokémon Go and had Homer play a similar game inside a church. This angered Russian clerics and the episode has been held back in the country as a result.

Niantic announced today during the 2017 Game Developers Conference, that Pokémon GO has surpassed 650 million downloads.

Niantic chief technology officer Phil Keslin revealed that players have now walked roughly 8.7 billion kilometers (5.4 billion miles) while playing Pokémon GO. Keslin added that Niantic plans to keep Pokémon GO fresh with regular content updates. At this point, it would not be surprising if the game reaches one billion downloads this year.

New Pokemon are coming to the world of Pokemon Go as announced by Niantic.

Game Update Welcomes Pokémon Originally Discovered in the Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver Video Games and Introduces Updated Encounter Gameplay, Evolution Options, New Berries and Expanded Avatar Items
San Francisco—Feb. 15, 2017—Niantic, Inc. and The Pokémon Company International announced an additional 80 Pokémon will begin to appear in Pokémon GO later this week. These include Pokémon originally discovered in the Johto region from the Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver video games, including Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile. Trainers will encounter these Pokémon “in the wild” as they embark on adventures and explore their neighborhoods and cities to catch Pokémon. In addition to Pokémon that will appear in the game for the first time, the latest update introduces new gameplay mechanics for Trainers to master, including new encounter gameplay, new Evolution items, two new Berries, and expanded outfit and accessory options for their Trainer avatars.

“Today is a momentous occasion for Pokémon GO as we welcome more Pokémon and build upon the encounter and capture mechanics for the passionate global community of Trainers playing the game,” said John Hanke, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Niantic, Inc. “Pokémon GO is a live experience which we’ll be continuing to support and evolve in new and interesting ways for years to come.”

“With Pokémon GO, The Pokémon Company endeavored to create a compelling game based on the concept of encountering and catching Pokémon in the real world,” said J.C. Smith, Senior Director, Consumer Marketing, The Pokémon Company International. “The amazing response to Pokémon GO by millions of existing and new Pokémon fans around the world is remarkable. We’re thrilled to keep the adventure going by welcoming these Pokémon to this engaging new way of experiencing the fun of the Pokémon brand.”

With the latest Pokémon GO game update, new Pokémon evolution options will give players the ability to use new Evolution items to evolve their Pokémon into ones that were originally discovered in the Johto region. While catching Pokémon, Trainers can use two new Berries—the Nanab Berry, which slows a Pokémon’s movements, and the Pinap Berry, which doubles the amount of Candy received if the next catch attempt succeeds. Trainers will also be able to customize their avatar’s appearance with a new selection of hats, shirts, pants, and other items. Additional items will be available for purchase from the in-game Pokémon GO shop.

Trainers can download Pokémon GO from the App Store for iOS devices and Google Play Store for Android. A version of Pokémon GO for Apple Watch is also available through the App Store. Nintendo’s Pokémon GO Plus device, which allows Trainers to catch Pokémon and collect items with the push of a button without looking at their screens, is being replenished at retail locations in support of this latest update, while supplies last.

This is a big addition to Pokémon Go and may even cause the game to get a second lease on life. This has me very interested, and now I wonder what next they will bring. Are you excited for this? Will you resume playing if you had stopped?

One of the biggest mobile markets out there is China, and while Niantic, Pokemon Co. and Nintendo would love to have Pokémon Go release there, it doesn’t seem to ever be happening. This is due to the Chinese state censor blocking the game from release in there due to security risks. Specifically, these include “a threat to geographical information security and the threat to transport and the personal safety of consumers.”

While this may seem excessive, it is worth noting that there have been multiple reports of injuries and accidents caused by people playing Pokémon Go while distracted. As well, gaming addiction is actually a major concern in China, with extreme cases having made headlines in the country. Given these facts, it does make sense that the government would have several concerns.

Thanks to Data Miners at the Silph Road, we now know that new data has been added in Pokémon Go. This new data contains all the Pokémon from Gen 2 but not their moveset data yet. Also of note is that Ditto and his move, transform, were added. This data is not yet active and we do not know when it will be. It seems like a big update is planned for Pokémon Go. Perhaps this can make the game even bigger than it already is?

Nintendo’s stock is up an astonishing 21% in a very short amount of time and still rising. This is due to the announcement of Super Mario Run for iOS and possibly a little due to Pokémon Go on Apple Watch.

According to Japanese news sources, a 29-year-old Vietnamese woman was struck while riding her bicycle by somebody playing Pokemon Go and driving. The accident happened earlier this month, but the woman died from her injuries on Thursday. The 26-year-old man who hit her explained how the incident happened:

“Just before, I had been playing Pokemon Go, and I was going to charge my phone, and when I looked away, that’s when it happened.”

This is becoming a rather serious issue and despite warnings from Niantic, this is continuing. I don’t know what the solution is, but people need to be more responsible when they play.

The Pokémon Company Japanese Twitter account has revealed that Pokémon Go as well as Pokémon Sun/Moon will be shown off at treehouse Live @ E3. Prior to this announcement it was assumed only Zelda would be shown. This makes us wonder, what else does Nintendo have in store for E3?